Development of the food safety and phytosanitary services in Montenegro

The specific purpose of the contract is

(i) to strengthen the legislative, institutional and administrative capacityrelated to food and feed safety and contribute to upgrading of establishments processing food of animalorigin (food safety component); and

(ii) to establish the systems for plant passport, plant protection productsand plant variety protection together with increasing technical capacity in laboratory methods (phytosanitarycomponent).

The expected interlinked project outputs (indicative list):

• the harmonisation, by a strategically designed and prioritised process, of the national legislation relating tofood and feed safety,
• strengthening institutional, administrative and inspection capacity in the field of food and feed safety,
• operationalising the system for approval of establishments producing food, especially food of animal origin,
• the harmonisation, by a strategically designed and prioritised process, of the national legislation relating toplant health (including plant passports), plant protection products and plant variety protection,
• developing laboratory methods and operational procedures in the plant health area,
• training of the laboratory staff to apply appropriate methods for detecting and identifying harmful organisms,
• training of the inspectors and administration staff to be capable to properly carry out administration, controland inspection duties related to the newly developed legislation and laboratory methods,
• operationalising the system for plant variety protection consistent with harmonised legislation,
• establishing a plant passport system for at least 1 plant species (potato or citrus),
• designing and implementing a series of awareness activities aimed at improving compliance with the new measures by informing stakeholders at all levels about the nature of the changes, the benefits to them of the reforms and their responsibilities.